The Yensid Chronicles
by vrsvla
Summary: In a land of legend, Rose discovers that her long-lost mother is a Queen and sets off for Wonderland in the midst of a dangerous plague. Meanwhile, Snow White seeks help battling the darkness that has taken root inside her mother. What neither Rose nor Snow know, however, is that their mother is the same woman.
1. Malignalitaloptereosis

There was no cure for the plague that had slowly spread throughout the realm. As far as anyone could remember, the plague had started in the southern kingdom of Camelot and took out an enormous quantity of its citizenry. Few survived. The unrelenting disease then stretched northwards for the kingdom of Cantankeros. Only a few months after that, people in the neighboring kingdom of Corona were showing signs of the illness. Doctors were pulled from all over the continent to try and devise a cure for this plague, but none succeeded. As the rulers of Camelot, Cantankeros and now Corona barricaded themselves against the riots of sick and dying people, trade and fortune in these parts were collapsing, which affected every other kingdom.

Tears were useless. No amount of crying would reverse the cursed plague that the physicians and alchemists had named 'Malignalitaloptereosis'. However, as Rose saw the decrepit figure twisting and turning in agony beneath the blankets on the bed, she could not help but weep.  
"How long does she have?" Rose asked one of the men looming over the bed, who was wearing a protective mask fashioned out of clay that had a beak stuffed with flowers and perfumes.  
"Two to three days, at best," muttered the physician, glancing at Rose, "There's not much we can do. I suggest you stay where you are. Don't come any closer to your grandmother. Malignalitaloptereosis is extremely contagious."  
"I know…" nodded Rose, listening to the faint coughing from the streets outside the house.  
When the masked medicine-men departed the house to tend to the other sickly townsfolk, Rose sat down on the rocking-chair that her grandmother once sat in while she would knit. The coughing, spasming creature with gray skin like leather covered in aching red spots looked nothing like her beloved grandmother. Rose could feel her eyes begin to sting with tears once more, so she looked down at her feet instead.  
"Red…" wheezed her grandmother, "…Red…"  
"I'm here, Grandmother," Rose spoke, her voice unstable and quivering. Red was the nickname that her grandmother and the other villagers called her, due to the bright red hooded cloak that Grandmother made for her.  
"You…you must leave…" Grandmother spoke, followed by a series of harsh coughs that made Rose wince. She shook her head stubbornly.  
"I'm not leaving your side," said Rose, "Ever."  
"You must…find your family…find her…"  
Rose slowly looked towards her Grandmother,  
"You _are_ my family, Grandmother. The only family I've got."  
"Silly girl…" croaked Grandmother, "…only those with _mothers_ can…have grandmothers…just where do you think you…" she coughed, "…came from?"  
Rose had barely thought about this since the day she was born. Grandmother was the only blood she was aware of, and throughout Rose's entire life, that had been enough. Rose had been content – until this very moment.  
"Who was my mother?" asked Rose.  
"My daughter…" Grandmother slowly and painfully sat up, "…I named her Marian…she loved the thief…and had you, but he took her…"  
"What thief? Who took her?"  
"The thief of Sherwood…your father…Marian loved him…but she also loved another…he was the King of Vunderlund, or Wonderland…"  
Rose struggled to put the pieces together. For all she knew, Grandmother was babbling gibberish as her brain decayed with illness.  
"My mother loved the King of Wonderland?" Rose inquired.  
"Yes…old King Cole, they called him…" nodded Grandmother frantically, "…he loved her…he took her…you must leave me…find your mother…tell her–"  
Suddenly, Grandmother hurled herself forward and coughed so violently that drops of blood, red as Rose's hooded cloak, spattered the blankets. Rose gasped,  
"Grandmother!"  
"Tell her…" Grandmother said, "…I love her."  
"I can't leave you–" Rose began to protest.  
"You would argue…with a dying woman?" panted Grandmother, "Go…leave this kingdom…go to Wonderland…before you catch this ghastly virus…"  
Rose wanted to hug her Grandmother goodbye. She couldn't, but she wanted to. The following morning, Rose had packed her basket with as much fresh food as she could fit in the basket. She had also decided to make use of the kitchen knife as well, and store it in a hidden pocket on the inside of her bright red cloak.

For a moment, Rose lingered in the doorway of Grandmother's room.  
"Grandmother," Rose called, "I'm leaving."  
There was no response. Rose didn't know whether her Grandmother was sleeping or dead. Either way, Rose knew she couldn't go any closer to the dying woman, and pulled her hood over her head before leaving the house. The street outside was empty. Rose did not remember the last time she had been outside the house. She raised her head and basked in the golden glow of the dawn for a few minutes, before she set off to go and find her mother. Wonderland was overseas, and was only accessible via two options – buying passage on a ship or crossing the Walrus Bridge that connected the continent of Yen with the continent of Sid, which is where Wonderland resided. Only people who spoke with old tongues referred to Wonderland as Vunderlund, as that was originally its name. The name Wonderland was allegedly popularized by a legendary figure known only as the Serpent. As Rose continued walking, she glanced towards the royal palace of Corona. The royals of Corona were safe and sound inside their fortress, while the dregs of society were abandoned and left to suffer their grim fate. Rose resented them for that. Family and fortune were the only reasons they would never die at the hands of this plague. Rose wondered if the royals of Wonderland were as selfish. She thought about her alleged mother. She imagined a fair and noble Queen Marian of Wonderland. There were so many questions, and Rose needed the answers in order to make sense of what she had learned. Either Rose was the secret daughter of a legendary thief and the Queen of Wonderland, or she was about to go on an incredibly long journey that would turn out to be all for naught.


	2. The White Princess

The cold winds from the north swept through the royal gardens, and a shiver struck the princess's spine. She pulled her white cloak tighter around herself, as she continued to admire the white roses that were in bloom. They were the favorites out of all the flowers in the gardens. Their petals' pale complexion, the delicate beauty but strong boldness in their shape – they were almost reminiscent of the princess herself. Perhaps that was why she appreciated the white roses the most. Footsteps sounded behind her, and she turned around to see one of her handmaidens approaching her.  
"Princess Snow," the handmaiden sighed, "Your parents, the King and Queen, have requested you come inside and dine with them before you catch a cold."  
Snow nodded,  
"Thank you."  
She walked alongside the handmaiden back inside the royal palace of Wonderland. They ascended a flight of stairs, which led to the dining room where her mother and father awaited her presence. King Cole of the noble White family was seated on one side of the dining table of ebony wood, while Queen Marian sat on the opposite side. Snow curtseyed as she entered the room, before taking a seat somewhere between her two parents.  
"You spend too much time in those gardens," her father said in a scolding tone.  
"She is a child, my love," Marian replied, her voice velvety and gracious, "She is simply appreciating the beauty of nature."  
"I'm not a child," Snow frowned. She had turned fifteen yesterday. Fifteen was practically adulthood – in her eyes, anyway.  
"You _are_ a child," replied Marian with a smile, "Embrace it. Enjoy it. So many adults wish they could return to the days of childhood. You are blessed with the gift of youth, Snow, but it does not last forever…"  
Marian's voice trailed off, and Snow looked at her mother with a mixture of curiosity and concern. Before she could say anything, however, the cooks emerged with the food. A large plate of roasted lamb was the main course of the evening, accompanied by a ring of crabs boiled and stuffed with bread and herbs, and several bowls of different salads.  
"What would you like to eat, princess?" asked one of the servants.  
"I'll have a lamb chop and some quail salad, please," Snow answered, and the servant set to work on filling Snow's plate with the requested foods.  
"Snow, how many times must I tell you?" Cole muttered, "You are a princess. You needn't say _please_ and _thank you_ to servants."  
"But it's polite," said Snow defensively.  
"Royals like us do not need to be polite," explained Cole, "We are above everyone else in this kingdom. It is their responsibility to be polite towards us, not the other way round."  
"Politeness is not a sin, nor is it something that should be discouraged, however," Marian lifted an eyebrow at her husband, who simply shrugged in response and dug into his dinner. The King loved stuffed crab, and would have them for every meal if he could. Snow had never tried crab and never wanted one on her plate. They looked too creepy and too monstrous, like one of the hideous man-eating abominations Snow had read about in one of the large and dusty books in the royal library. Marian, meanwhile, dined solely on the egg salad on the table.  
"Not hungry, mother?" Snow inquired. Marian looked over at Snow. For the first time that evening, Snow engaged in eye contact with her mother, and could not help but notice a certain emptiness in her mother's gaze.  
"I had a large lunch," Marian replied, before returning her gaze to the egg salad in front of her.  
"Mm, that reminds me," Cole's attention left the boiled crabs and he looked at Marian, "Which of the soldiers accompanied you at lunch-time? Sir Leo?"  
"Yes," nodded Marian, "Why do you ask?"  
"I received noticed from Sir Einhorn that Sir Leo has gone missing," muttered Cole, "Nobody has seen him since this morning. Was he alright during lunch-time?"  
Marian thought for a moment before responding,  
"I didn't pay much attention towards him, so I cannot comment on his condition for certain. What would have happened to him inside palace walls?"  
"I'm not sure," Cole replied, "Sir Leo does not seem to me the type of knight who would flee his post."  
"Nor to me, he is a valiant soldier," Marian's brow furrowed, "We must enlist everyone in the kingdom, highborn and low, to search for him."  
"That was my first thought, but we shouldn't alarm everyone else. His disappearance must be knowledge that remains inside the palace."  
Marian nodded,  
"As you wish."  
After dinner, Snow was escorted to her bedchambers where she bid her maidens goodnight and lay in her bed. When she fell asleep, she dreamed that she was back in the dining room. However, instead of people, the dining room was filled with animals. Seated at the dining table was a large snake that was coiled around one of the wooden chairs as it swallowed eggs on the plate in front of it. When the snake finished swallowing the eggs whole, it was suddenly fighting a lion. Snow watched as the lion and the snake battled as if they were in the wild savannah of Löwenkönig. The lion lunged at the snake, but the latter creature shot like an arrow into the lion's chest, and emerged bloody from the lion's back, with the beast's heart between its fangs. Snow watched in horror as the lion collapsed in its own scarlet puddle, while the snake swallowed the lion's heart whole, as it did with the eggs.

When she woke up, her entire body was drenched in cold sweat. Snow breathed heavily, calming herself down, before stepping out of bed and walking over to the window that overlooked the royal gardens. The garden looked so mystical and stunning, adorned in moonlight. Snow wanted so desperately to be out there, dancing in the gardens with the flowers as her audience, but being out of bed during the night was forbidden. Snow shifted her thoughts to the horrific dream she had experienced. She assumed the dream had spawned in the depths of her mind after reading a book about the wild animals that populated Löwenkönig, the southern state of the realm that was mostly desert and savannah. It didn't really count as a kingdom, but it was its own separate land due to the number of native tribes that lived down there. The image of the snake consuming the lion's heart was still fresh and vivid in Snow's memory. The more she tried to shake it away, the brighter the image became in her brain. Snow sat back down on her bed, letting out a solemn sigh.


	3. Let Down Your Hair

As time passed, houses and markets became trees and shrubery as Rose left the village and began strolling through the outskirts of Sherwood Forest. The sun was now just beginning to set, and Rose knew that she would soon be seeing a multitude of lanterns glimmering in the darkened sky. Tonight was Lantern Night after all, and Rose was half-glad that the kingdom was still practicing this tradition despite the outbreak of the plague. One hundred lanterns released on a certain night every year, in remembrance of one hundred people who were found dead over the course of one night many, many years ago. Rose had heard the meaning of Lantern Night from Grandmother. Nobody knew for sure exactly how those people died – but there were rumors.  
"Rapunzel! Rapunzel!"  
Rose turned her head in the direction of the chanting. Children liked to gather around Gothel Tower on Lantern Night and try to summon the alleged demon that lived inside the tower. Legend said that the one hundred corpses found strewn around Corona were victims of a girl possessed by a demonic force, known as Rapunzel. The demon was indestructible, so the girl's mother apparently locked her in Gothel Tower, the ancient structure built in Sherwood Forest with no doors and no windows, aside from the tiny barred window at the very top of Gothel Tower. Few believed this to be the case, but children enjoyed the horror of this legend enough for the story to be passed down, generation by generation. Slowly, Rose shifted the direction of her journey and walked towards Gothel Tower, pushing bushes and branches out of her face as she did so.  
"Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"  
Rose recognized some of the youths gathered at the foot of Gothel Tower, reciting the traditional chant repeatedly.  
"Jim?" Rose scoffed, "Jiminy?"  
A familiar face looked over and saw Rose, causing said face to light up with joy.  
"Red!" cheered a teenage boy who looked to be the same age as Rose – around sixteen.  
"What are you doing here?" asked Rose.  
"I could ask you the same question," replied Jiminy, "I'm just here to socialize, really. I generally don't believe in the whole Rapunzel thing."  
"I'm leaving Corona," Rose explained, "I'm headed for Wonderland."  
"What, really?" Jiminy raised an eyebrow, "Fleeing the plague?"  
"Partly," murmured Rose, "but there's another reason…"  
"What other reason would that be?" Jiminy queried inquisitively. Rose faltered, unsure of whether she should divulge further. Jiminy Tithonus had been her friend for a long time. During childhood, they were inseparable, but as adolescence kicked in, Rose and Jiminy drifted apart somewhat.  
"That's a long pause," said Jiminy, with a playful smile.  
"Yeah, sorry…" Rose snapped out of it, "…I'm looking for my mother."  
"Your mother lives in Wonderland?"  
Rose nodded,  
"Could we…talk about this somewhere else? Maybe somewhere with less people?"  
"Sure, we can–"  
Jiminy was interrupted by a chorus of frantic shouts. The pair of them turned to face Gothel Tower, and they saw what the masses of youngsters were yelling about. Through the gaps between the bars of the window, they could see a bright yellow light from inside the tower.  
"What the heck?" Jiminy scratched his head. Rose's eyes widened, and she took a few steps towards Gothel Tower.  
"Did, uhh, did one of the kids get in there?" Rose asked one of the children, a young boy named Hansel.  
"No," Hansel shook his head.  
"Oh," gulped Rose, "Oh dear."  
"Somebody should go in there!" someone shouted.  
"Not me," Hansel ran off.  
"Not me," repeated Hansel's sister Gretel, who followed her brother into the bushes. As the children gradually drifted away from the tower, Rose remained and gazed upwards at the light shining out of the tower.  
"We should go up there," suggested Jiminy.  
"What? No. There's someone up there," Rose shook her head nervously, "A thief, perhaps."  
"Or a demonic spirit trapped inside a long-haired woman."  
"Don't be silly," said Rose.  
"Sorry."  
They stood there for a moment, staring at Gothel Tower, before Jiminy began climbing up the jagged face of the tower.  
"What are you doing?" Rose looked mortified.  
"Finding out who's up there," replied Jiminy, "Come on. Wonderland can wait."  
Rose rolled her eyes and mumbled something under her breath, then reluctantly put down her basket and began following Jiminy up the side of the tower. Physical strain was no problem for Rose. It was never a problem for Rose. She had always been an athletic girl; a fast runner and a good climber. Perhaps she got it from her alleged father's side. Perhaps they would enter Gothel Tower and find Robin Hood and his Merry Men camping inside. Halfway up the tower, Jiminy glanced down at Rose,  
"You better not be checking me out, Red."  
"Don't make me sick," Rose muttered, "Hurry up and keep climbing before we both tire out and fall to our deaths, please."  
Jiminy laughed and continued climbing the tower, followed by Rose. This felt just like old times. When they reached the top of the tower, Jiminy clambered onto the roof and began kicking the barred window. Rose hung onto the bricky surface for dear life as Jiminy kicked. Finally, he kicked the window in,  
"Let's go."


	4. One Hundred Souls

Several moments had passed as Jiminy continuously kicked the barred window, when it finally broke off its hinges, leaving a hole just big enough for them to fit through.  
"Let's go," said Jiminy.  
Rose nodded and cautiously began to ease herself through the rectangular hole and into Gothel Tower. She eventually fell onto the cold stone floor, before getting up and brushing dust from her red cloak, coughing. Then, she lifted her gaze to the sight before her. There were large, glowing streaks of yellow that practically filled all the space in the room, like some sort of fiery spider's web – and in the centre of the room was a girl. She was wearing an old, filthy nightgown. Her face and hands were smudged with dirt, but there was a certain beauty to her. Something delicate. Something fragile.  
"Is that..?" Jiminy clambered through the hole, and stared at the girl, his mouth agape.  
"I think so," Rose examined the large ropes of the glowing yellow fibres, looked as they were positioned across the room, hung up on various hooks in the walls and ceiling. Then she examined the girl, and noticed how the glowing yellow stopped at her head. It was her hair. A hook on the ceiling suspended her in the air. Her feet were a few inches from the floor. The girl seemed to be unconscious, or sleeping peacefully.  
"She was real after all," murmured Jiminy.  
"It appears so…" said Rose hurriedly, "…We should go. If the rumors are true, then she's responsible for killing a hundred people in the course of one night."  
Jiminy nodded in agreement, before his attention was consumed by something that rested underneath Rapunzel.  
"Hang on, what's that?" he spoke.  
"What's what?" Rose arched an eyebrow, following Jiminy's gaze to the small treasure chest on the floor at Rapunzel's feet. Jiminy looked back at Rose,  
"I'll go and see what's in it."  
"Jim!" scolded Rose, "Don't you dare."  
"Relax, Red."  
Jiminy crept across the room, stepping over or crouching under large tendrils of Rapunzel's luminous golden hair. Rose watched, worried, as he managed to traverse the room without even so much as brushing past a single strand of Rapunzel's hair, for Rose was sure that it was some sort of trap – if Jiminy were to trigger Rapunzel's wrath by touching her hair, suspended around the entire room, they would not be leaving Gothel Tower alive. Jiminy approached the treasure chest, knelt down and slowly moved it out from underneath Rapunzel, before placing his hands on the lid and opening it slightly.  
"Hm," Jiminy observed, "It's unlocked."  
"Which means there's probably nothing valuable inside, so let's go!" Rose whispered frantically. However, curiosity got the best of Jiminy, and he opened the chest. When he looked inside, a look of disappointment crossed his face. Now Rose was curious as well.  
"Well?"  
Jiminy reached into the chest and pulled out what appeared to be a pair of scissors. Rose frowned,  
"I told you. Nothing valuable."  
"Right," Jiminy sighed and stood up, face-to-face with Rapunzel, only to realize in that moment that Rapunzel was no longer dormant. He caught a glimpse of Rapunzel's glowing yellow eyes, before a large tendril of hair wrapped around his leg and hurled him at a wall.  
"Jiminy!" Rose cried out, as Jiminy struggled to get back onto his feet. Rapunzel's hair was thrashing around, as if it had a mind of its own, while Rapunzel's face turned from beauty into horror. Her dainty hands became talons, and her face contorted into something so hideous, Rose began to feel nauseous. Quickly, she ran over to Jiminy and helped him up, before rushing over to the hole they had entered through.  
"Are you alright to climb down?" asked Rose.  
"Should be," muttered Jiminy as he limped his way through the window-hole. Rose followed him, until a thick coil of Rapunzel's hair wrapped around her leg so tightly that Rose could feel the bones in her foot begin to ache. Suddenly, Rose was pulled backwards, and she hung onto the edges of the window-hole for dear life.  
"Jiminy!" she yelled out, and Jiminy turned around to see Rose being pulled back into the tower. He gasped, before rummaging through his pockets and withdrawing the pair of scissors he took from the chest. He clambered back through the hole, before snipping through the hair that was wrapped around Rose's leg. As the scissors cut through the hair, it went from its golden glow to a dark brown color, and Rapunzel started shrieking. Jiminy grabbed Rose – who was panicking – and heaved her out of Gothel Tower, before they both began climbing down the tower.  
"I really hope she can't leave the tower," Jiminy uttered, as they were halfway down the tower. At that moment, the top half of Gothel Tower exploded. Bricks, thatch and rubble went flying everywhere as Rapunzel shot out from the smoke and the dust, and into one of the trees outside the tower.  
"No…" Rose's eyes widened in terror. Rapunzel's hair wrapped around a tree, completely uprooting the entire goliath from the ground, before throwing it at the tower. It barely missed Rose and Jiminy, but the impact of the tree colliding into the side of the tower was enough to shake them off. The pair of them hit the ground, and Rose winced as a sharp pain struck her ribs. As she made her way back onto her feet, she saw Rapunzel crouching atop a tree branch, a mocking grin plastered on her face.  
"Thank you for awakening me," Rapunzel spoke, a metallic rasp in her voice, "I'll make sure everyone knows that you're the reason they're all going to die."  
Rapunzel began cackling madly, before leaping down from the tree and launching herself at Rose. Rose screamed as Rapunzel loomed over her. Rapunzel opened her mouth, causing Rose to open her own mouth uncontrollably. Paralyzed and forced to watch, Rose saw some sort of yellow energy starting to drift like mist out from her mouth and into Rapunzel's. Rose tried to move, even an arm or a leg, but there was no use. Her eyes began to well up with tears, as she felt herself starting to fade away. Then, through her vision blurred with tears, she saw Jiminy standing beside Rapunzel. The scissors in his hand were open and between the two blades was Rapunzel's hair, up to the scalp.  
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel," Jiminy muttered, "Let down your hair."  
He closed the scissors, and Rapunzel's hair fell to the ground, becoming dark brown. The remaining hair on Rapunzel's head turned brown as well, and the yellow energy re-emerged from her mouth and back into Rose's body. Rapunzel looked up at Jiminy, horrified, before collapsing in a dead heap. Slowly, Rose felt herself able to move again. She sat up quickly, and backed away from Rapunzel's body, hyperventilating.  
"It's okay," said Jiminy, "It's over now."  
Rose looked up at Jiminy through eyes, shining and wet, before she glanced at Rapunzel's hair. Small spherical yellow lights began rising from the hair and floated skywards, much to Rose's surprise. They almost resembled the lanterns that she could faintly see disappearing into the night sky.  
"What's going on?" Jiminy looked as the lights left Rapunzel's hair and drifted up, "They look like stars."  
As Rose watched the strange lights, a flash of realization passed her.  
"They're not stars," she whispered, "They're souls."  
"Souls?"  
"Rapunzel consumed one-hundred souls on the very first Lantern Night," explained Rose, "Now, they're free to move onto wherever souls go after death."  
Jiminy looked at the lights in awe, and Rose smiled slightly, her breathing having calmed.

A few moments after one-hundred lights abandoned the brown strands of hair, one last ball of light rose from Rapunzel's own body. This was one red in color, until the red energy sank deep into the ground below, while the ball of light became yellow, before floating into the sky.


	5. The Soiled Soil

Snow was glad when the Prince of Glowerhaven left the royal palace and returned to whence he came.  
"What did you think?" asked her father, "Potential suitor material, eh?"  
"He seemed a bit too arrogant and smug for my tastes, Father," Snow replied earnestly. King Cole gave a tired sigh,  
"You're going to have to get married someday, you know."  
"Only if you make me," Snow said with a shrug.  
"It's just the way things are," explained Cole, "As a princess, it is your duty to marry a prince and become Queen of Glowerhaven."  
"But I don't want to leave Wonderland. I want to stay here and become Queen of this place one day," protested Snow. Cole raised a thick eyebrow, sinking back into his throne in exasperation.  
"Go tend to the gardens or whatever it is you please," he said wearily. Snow did as she was asked, and left the throne-room before traversing the old and empty corridors towards the royal gardens.

As usual, the flowers were vivid and extravaggant, and Snow took in all the colors around her. The gardens truly were one of the most magical places Snow had ever seen – not that she had seen many places. As far as she knew, Snow had never been as far as the town surrounding the palace of Wonderland, although she couldn't understand why. Her mother and father were kind and just rulers, and there was more than enough food, water and shelter for the entire kingdom. If they ever stepped outside the palace walls without guards, Snow imagined that the townsfolk would be kissing their shoes and praising them. Not that Snow wanted her shoes kissed in the slightest, but that's what she pictured. As she approached her favorite briar of white roses, however, her joy faded. Some of the pale beauties had been uprooted; the soil darkened and disturbed. Snow frowned and began clawing at the soil. Had someone planted new seeds? How dare they replace her roses with something else? She kept digging up the damp earth, until her hand brushed something cold as stone but soft as flesh. Snow quickly withdrew her hand, and after a few seconds of trying to figure out what she was looking at, she screamed. Moments later, Snow was in her mother's arms, sobbing profusely. While Marian comforted her daughter, Cole furiously addressed several guards,  
"Whose corpse is it?!"  
One of the guards exhaled deeply before replying,  
"Sir Leo."  
Cole needed to grab onto the table for support, otherwise he was likely to collapse.  
"Who in the world could have killed him? Who would have been _able_ to kill him? Inside our palace walls as well!"  
"There's, uhh, there's something else you should know about the murder," the guard eyed Snow, "but perhaps the young princess should leave. Such young ears should not be spoiled by talks of gruesome death."  
"I'm not going anywhere," Snow sniffed, rubbing her tearstained face, "I've already seen the body. I want to know who did this."  
That brightened Cole's face slightly. Perhaps it was pride.  
"As you wish, my lady," nodded the guard, before turning to Cole, "Your Majesty, upon examining the body, it appears that…" he hesitated, "…Sir Leo's heart was ripped from his chest."  
Something struck Snow then, as if she had been punched in the gut. She felt faint, and began quivering.  
"His…his heart?!" Cole roared, _"What do you mean his heart has been ripped out?!"  
_ "There's a hole in his chest where his heart should be," the guard murmured grimly. Cole sat down, putting his head in his hands.  
"Snow," Marian said, "It is time for you to go to bed now."  
Snow did not argue. She wished she had left earlier. Someone within these palace walls had actively murdered another person and ripped his heart from his chest like some savage animal. Like some beast.  
"I want twice as many guards escorting my wife and daughter from now on," said Cole, "Nobody leaves or enters this palace until this killer is caught!"


	6. The Owl And The Dragon

The streets of Camelot smelled of destruction and death. Mass graves housed the bodies that piled on the streets, as the plague tore through the kingdom and spread through the land like blood soaking through a cloth.

And this was only just the beginning.

The woman strolled casually through the deserted Camelot streets, her long purple hair trailing behind her like mist. She liked the death and the decay; she relished in the suffering around her. Camelot was hers now, and soon the rest of the world would follow. When all the kingdoms of Yen – Camelot, Corona, Cantankeros and Cendrillon – had burned and crumbled beneath her wrath, she would cross the Walrus Bridge and the kingdoms that made up Sid would fall next. As she revelled in the thought of all the Kings and Queens falling to their knees and bowing before her, a brown owl perched upon a tree branch watched her intently, before swooping down and landed on the ground in front of her as a man. The woman stopped and smiled menacingly,  
"Hello there, pretty bird."  
The man's large brown wings disappeared into his back, and he said nothing in response. This made her chuckle.  
"Are you just going to stand there silently? Or have you got a message from that old fool?" she inquired mockingly.  
"The only message I'll be sending will be _to_ Merlin," the man said at last, "and that message will be the news of your demise."  
The woman's eyes narrowed and she shook her head slowly in disappointment.  
"Now, now, Archimedes…" her silvery voice remained calm, "...we both know you won't win."  
"We'll see about that," Archimedes muttered, withdrawing his sword and pointing it at the woman.  
"You would take the life of another?" she asked.  
"I would save the lives of millions, madam," replied Archimedes sternly. The purple-haired woman rolled her eyes,  
"Very well."  
Archimedes lunged forward and swung his blade, but the woman disappeared, reappearing behind him.  
"Black magic," Archimedes snarled.  
"You'll have to do better than that," the woman taunted. Archimedes spun around to face her, just as the woman had managed to summon several daggers made of darkness before hurling them all in his direction. Archimedes gasped, but managed to deflect them all with his sword.  
"There is no escaping justice," said Archimedes, "You will pay for the lives you have destroyed."  
"If you want to punish the person at fault here, then perhaps you should go and pay a visit to Merlin," replied the woman, "It was he who tried to kill me using this wretched plague. All I did was spread it around."  
"Enough!" Archimedes yelled, and the large brown feathery wings burst from his back. Kicking off the ground, he flew up into the sky before clapping his wings together, sending a blast of wind that took her off her feet. The woman flew through the air for a few seconds, before landing on her feet several metres away.  
"Is that all you've got?" she said, "I am the Queen of air and darkness. Your powers are no match for mine!"  
At that moment, Archimedes swooped down with sword in hand at a speed the woman could barely comprehend. With one swing of the sword, head separated from shoulders. Archimedes loomed over the woman's headless body for a moment, then turned around and began walking away. However, unknown to him, the headless body suddenly got back onto its feet and walked over to her severed head before fixing it back onto her body. Archimedes stopped when he heard laughing.  
"And people so often tell me not to lose my head!" the woman exclaimed. Horrified, Archimedes slowly turned around and looked at her.  
"What..? How..?" was all he could muster.  
"Wondering how I'm still alive?" cackled the woman, "Well that's my business, bird boy."  
Archimedes couldn't understand. He had sliced her head off seconds ago, and yet here she was, as if he had merely flicked her. Snapping out of it, he let out a grunt as he hurled his sword towards her in desperation. As the sword spun towards the woman, however, a torrent of flames encircled her. The fire disintegrated blade and hilt before the sword could even get close to her. Archimedes watched as the swirling fire grew and grew. When the flames vanished, the woman no longer seemed to be there. In her place stood an enormous dragon of purple scales and wicked bright green eyes. Archimedes quickly went to pull out his sword, but remembered that it had been destroyed.  
"You're out of your depth, child…" the woman's voice growled from the dragon's mouth, before the purple dragon breathed a stream of fire that caused Archimedes to die screaming. All that remained were ashes and smoke. The woman, back in her original form, walked through the smoke and looked down at the ashes,  
"Why don't you tell _that_ to Merlin?" she sneered. With a wave of her hand, a box carved from dark wood materialized on the ground beside the remains. She scooped up the ashes and poured them into the box, before magically engraving onto the lid of the box in golden letters:

 **Leave your pawns out of it. This is between you and me. This is what happens when an owl goes after a dragon.  
See you soon,  
Madam MIM**


	7. Counting Bodies Like Sheep

There was once a peaceful and silent serenity in the royal gardens of Wonderland, but now whenever Snow wanted to indulge in a leisurely stroll, she had to endure ten other pairs of footsteps from the royal guards assigned to her. It wasn't the same. It was never going to be the same, unless they uncovered the unidentified murderer of Sir Leo.  
"Snow."  
She turned around to see her father, King Cole, approaching.  
"Hello Father," murmured Snow, somewhat surprised. She had never seen her father in the gardens. He was also accompanied by several guards.  
"I'm sorry about all this," Cole said, "but it's for your safety, and your mother's safety. Security will have to tighten if we want to find the cur who killed Sir Leo and gave him a poor burial beneath these very gardens."  
"I understand," Snow nodded, "I just don't like it very much."  
"I also understand," replied Cole with a small smile, "but if anything ever happened to you…I don't know what I would do. You are my only child, and you are the fairest of them all. Remember that."  
"I'm not the fairest of them all," laughed Snow.  
"But you _are_ ," Cole said, "and one day, you will be a fairest Queen of them all."  
Snow looked down at the ground and didn't say anything.  
"I shall be having my lunch now," her father spoke, "Would you care to join me? Your mother is still in bed, last time I checked."  
"Alright," Snow answered, "I'll just spend a few more minutes in the gardens beforehand."  
"Very well," uttered Cole, "See you there."  
With that, her father turned around and returned to the palace with his guards. Snow closed her eyes and turned her face upwards before opening her eyes again and looking up at the pale blue sky for a few moments. She had always wondered what the sky was made of. When she was a child, Snow imagined that the sky was an enormous blue rug that would be replaced by a black diamond-studded rug during the hours of the night – but those were the foolish notions of a naïve youth. After pondering what the sky would feel like if she could touch it, Snow strolled over to what was once her favorite part of the royal gardens. The white rose bushes, disturbed by the former presence of Sir Leo's dead cold body. Whoever killed him had ruined Snow's favorite area. Grimacing, the princess turned and left the gardens, returning back into the warm dark embrace of the palace. Ascending the steps, Snow traversed the palace corridors until she arrived outside the dining room. The doors were closed, and the guards were situated in even numbers beside said doors. Snow's own guards joined the ranks, staying on the wall opposite to the door, while Snow pushed open the doors and walked in to join her father. Snow would need to have a brief lunch, as she was to have a tutoring session this afternoon with the royal tutor. King Cole was sitting on a chair with his back to her, and Snow walked over to the dining table and took a seat at the end of the table closest to his chair.  
"What are you going to have for lunch?" Snow asked. Her father, however, remained silent. Snow looked at him, and frowned,  
"Father?"  
Silence. Snow slowly rose from her seat, and stared at him. Cole was sitting there, slightly hunched. His hands were flat on the table and his wide eyes were unfocussed. Snow slowly approached his seat, but stopped at once when her gaze caught the blood-rimmed hole in her father's chest. There were no words to describe what she felt in that moment. The muscles in her throat tightened, and she fell to her knees, unable to cry out. The shock rendered her speechless, and she sat there, choking and wheezing for several minutes before her voice let out into a series of sobbing.  
"Father!" she cried, "…G-Guards!"  
The doors burst open and guards spilled into the room with their swords withdrawn. When they saw Snow on the floor beside the dead King Cole, they all stopped and looked at their fallen monarch in terror. They had failed at their job – protecting him from the forces of evil in this world. A few guards helped Snow to her feet and escorted her out of the dining room and to her bedchambers. As soon as she was alone in her bedchambers, Snow threw herself onto her bed and wept until nightfall. By then, there was a knock on her door. Snow didn't answer, so the door opened and her mother walked inside. They looked at each other for a few moments, before Snow ran over to her and hugged her, bursting into tears again. Marian wrapped her arms around her daughter,  
"I know, sweetheart…I know…"  
Snow sniffed,  
"He's gone…I should have gone with him straight away…it's my fault–"  
"Don't you say that," Marian's hand cupped Snow's face gently, "Don't ever say that. It was the murderer's fault, and theirs alone. He loved you with all his heart and he would not condone you blaming yourself. Do you understand me, child?"  
Snow avoided eye contact with her mother, and walked back to her bed,  
"Who killed him? Who killed my father?"  
"The guards still don't know," sighed Marian, stepping over to the window, "They still don't know that it was me."  
It took Snow a few seconds to comprehend what her mother had just said.  
"Mother? You…what?"  
"I killed him," Marian reiterated casually, as if they were discussing the weather, "After I killed Sir Leo. I ripped their hearts out and ate them. You know that."  
"I…but…no…"  
"You did know that," smiled Marian, "because you had a vision last night. Well, a vision disguised as a simple dream. The lion fighting the snake…although, I'll admit; visions are tricky to decipher. The lion was poor brave Sir Leo, and I was the snake, you see."  
Snow backed away from her mother, eyes wide,  
"Mother…but…how? Why?!"  
"Don't blame your mother," Marian rolled her eyes, "Blame me. Blame the creature living inside your mother."  
Snow could not believe what she was hearing. Instead, she just shook her head in disbelief while Marian continued,  
"If you want to assign a name to me, then you can call me the Serpent. I am not your mother. I am simply using her, before I dispose of her too, my sweet child."  
"Mother, you're not making any sense!" yelled Snow, "Guards!"  
"They can't hear you," Marian rolled her eyes, "and they won't believe you if you tell them what I have just said. To them, I'm the Queen, and you? Well, you're just a little girl with a heart bigger than your brain."  
Snow had never seen such a cruel twisted smile on her mother's face. This wasn't her. This was something else that had taken her mother over entirely.  
"You…killed my father…" Snow whispered, apprehension slowly dawning upon her, "…whatever you are, controlling my mother's words and actions… _leave_."  
"Leave?" gasped Marian, "Leave your mother's body? But…I'm not finished yet, darling. I'm not finished yet at all."  
"Leave my bedchambers," growled Snow, her breaths growing heavy as she scowled at her mother. Marian chuckled and tilted her head,  
"Alright, dear."  
Without another word, she vacated the bedchambers, leaving Snow in shock.


	8. Woman Of The Woods

Sherwood Forest was a vast area, and much of it remained unexplored, as there were a multitude of wild beasts that lurked in the shadows but seldom approached anyone on the dirt road that lead through the forest. Rose and Jiminy only abandoned the safety of the road if nature called. It made sense for Jiminy to travel alongside her, what with the disease spreading through Corona, which they had left behind for Wonderland.  
"How much longer until we reach the Walrus Bridge?" asked Jiminy.  
"It shouldn't be too far after we've reached the other side of Sherwood," Rose answered. Walrus Bridge was a large structure that connected the two continents of Yen and Sid together, allowing free trade and travel.  
"Why is it called Walrus Bridge of all things?" Jiminy scratched his head in confusion.  
"According to the tale, the Walrus Bridge was built by a lonely carpenter," said Rose, "According to him, a whole colony of walruses came and helped him."  
"Really? That's…odd."  
"I know," Rose shrugged, "but that's what he said, and he was the one who built it, I suppose he got to choose what to name the bloody thing."  
Jiminy nodded,  
"Fair enough."  
They continued making their way through Sherwood Forest. They hadn't slept in about a day, and Rose's feet were beginning to ache, but she dared not let Jiminy know. She didn't want to look even remotely weak.  
"Should we stop soon?" Jiminy broke the silence, as if he had just read Rose's mind.  
"Why?" scoffed Rose, "You tired?"  
"Well, yes…" admitted Jiminy sheepishly.  
"Once we get out of this forest, we can seek shelter and rest at an inn," Rose replied.  
"Good idea."  
They continued walking, when suddenly Rose heard rustling from a nearby shrub, causing her to stop and turn to face where the noise came from.  
"Hello?" called Rose, "Who's there?"  
"What is it?" Jiminy asked, apparently not having heard the rustling. Rose stared into the darkness of the trees, and saw a figure moving towards them.  
"Please," a female voice spoke, "I mean neither of you harm."  
Emerging from the forest was a young woman, who looked only a couple of years older than Rose, despite the fact that she had light silver hair. The woman was wearing a black hooded cloak, and she was quite beautiful.  
"Who are you?" Rose did not recognize her.  
"I'm not from here," the woman had a rather regal accent, "I come from a distant land, not in Yen or Sid."  
"What are you doing here?" queried Jiminy, trying not to look too stunned by the woman's beauty.  
"I fled from my home country after a terrible sorcerer took over and destroyed everything I loved," she replied, "I came here, and I've been living in Sherwood Forest ever since. It's peaceful here."  
"What about the wild animals that live here?" frowned Rose.  
"I can handle them," the woman smiled, "Where are you two headed? Not many people come this way."  
"It's the only way from Corona to Walrus Bridge," Jiminy responded. Rose nudged him and gave him a brief scolding look, which the woman noticed.  
"You're wondering if you can trust me," murmured the woman, "That's fine. I understand. I was just wondering if you wanted to spend a night at my cottage. I'm going to prepare some rabbit stew tonight."  
Rose exchanged another look with Jiminy, this one was a look of contemplation. She imagined the smell of warm rabbit stew, which caused her stomach to rumble loudly.  
"I'll take that as a yes," the woman smiled, before turning around and walking back into the forest without another word. After a short moment, Rose and Jiminy both followed her.  
"So, where _are_ you from?" Jiminy said.  
"From a country west of Yen," replied the woman, "It is known as Prydain."  
"Prydain? In the west? Never heard of it," muttered Rose, trying to remember if she had ever heard of a place called Prydain.  
"It's not apart of Yen or Sid," the woman explained, "It is a separate continent far from here. I was once the Queen of Prydain, for a time…until _he_ took the crown for himself."  
"Who's he?" Jiminy lifted an eyebrow.  
Achren hesitated for a brief moment before shaking her head slowly,  
"I don't want to talk about Prydain. Why are you two going to the Walrus Bridge? Escaping the plague?"  
"Yes," Rose did not know this Achren woman well enough to blurt out her entire life story. Anyway, it was partly true. Jiminy certainly wasn't here to meet his mother. Jiminy's mother had died giving birth to him, and he didn't know anything about his father.  
"That's one good thing about living in solitude, far from everyone else," said Achren, "There's little chance of the plague reaching me…unless you two have it."  
"No, we don't," reassured Rose, suddenly thinking back to all the times she was in the room as her grandmother lay there suffering, coughing and spluttering. No, she told herself, if she was infected she would know by now. There would be tell-tale signs.  
"Hold your breath when we get to the cottage," Achren instructed, "The flowers I've planted are extremely hallucinogenic. They are designed to befuddle trespassers."  
Rose and Jiminy exchanged glances.


	9. Caged Critters

Upon arriving at Achren's cottage, both Rose and Jiminy heeded her instructions and held their breath until they were inside the quaint stone cottage. They could see the exotic-looking orange and purple hallucinogenic flowers in the garden outside. When they walked into the cottage, they were greeted with the smell of rabbit stew, bubbling and boiling in a cauldron suspended atop a crackling fire.  
"Make yourselves comfortable," Achren smiled as she grabbed a large wooden spoon and stirred the stew. Rose and Jiminy looked longingly at the bubbling stew. Both of them were incredibly hungry, and had already eaten the food from Rose's basket. All that remained in the basket was the kitchen knife.  
"Thank you," Rose spoke, "for allowing us to stay at your cottage. We won't be any trouble."  
"It is my pleasure," replied Achren, still stirring.  
"We'll stay overnight and leave the next morning," Jiminy suggested, looking at Rose, who nodded. Achren lifted the wooden spoon to her mouth and sipped the spoonful of stew.  
"Hmm…this could use some more herbs," Achren murmured, "Will you two stay here while I go out and collect some?"  
"We can go and collect some if you want," Rose offered.  
"No, no, you two are guests," said Achren, waving her hands dismissively, "I'll only be gone for a moment. Do you mind if I borrow your basket?"  
"Not at all," answered Rose, completely forgetting about the knife that still sat in the basket. She passed Achren the basket, before Achren walked out of the cottage, leaving the door slightly open as she left. Jiminy walked over and closed the front door, then looked at Rose,  
"Well, that was nice of her."  
"Yes," Rose murmured, "Do you think she'll mind if I have a small…sip, of rabbit stew now?"  
Jiminy bit his bottom lip and stared at the stew,  
"She probably won't mind."  
Rose's stomach gurgled, and she nodded quickly,  
"I'm sure she won't mind, either."  
Rose approached the cauldron of rabbit stew, when something broke beneath her feet. She let out a small scream, as the trapdoor underneath her broke off its hinges and she disappeared into the basement below.  
"Red!" Jiminy gasped, and rushed over to the hole in the floor, "Are you okay?"  
"I'm fantastic," Rose muttered sarcastically, getting up and dusting herself off.  
"I'm coming down," said Jiminy, before jumping down into the basement. He landed on his feet, and the pair of them looked around.  
"What is this place?" whispered Rose. The walls of the basement were covered with wooden shelves, and on the shelves were cages of various animals such as lizards, bats and rats. Aside from the caged animals were a multitude of glass bottles filled with colored liquids. Rose walked over and picked up a bottle, examining it.  
"Essence of spider?" Rose read the label aloud. Jiminy frowned, puzzled, picking up another bottle,  
"Essence of rabbit."  
Rose lifted an eyebrow, before they heard a voice,  
"Help…"  
The voice startled Rose and Jiminy. They quickly turned around to see a young girl chained to a dark corner of the basement. They hadn't noticed the girl beforehand, and the sight of her terrified them.  
"Who are you? What is this place?" interrogated Rose, approaching the girl cautiously. Upon stepping closer to her, however, the answer came to her. She recognized the girl from Gothel Tower.

 _Through the gaps between the bars of the window, they could see a bright yellow light from inside the tower.  
"What the heck?" Jiminy scratched his head. Rose's eyes widened, and she took a few steps towards Gothel Tower.  
"Did, uhh, did one of the kids get in there?" Rose asked one of the children, a young boy named Hansel.  
"No," Hansel shook his head.  
"Oh," gulped Rose, "Oh dear."  
"Somebody should go in there!" someone shouted.  
"Not me," Hansel ran off.  
"Not me," repeated Hansel's sister Gretel, who followed her brother into the bushes._

The young girl chained up in Achren's basement was Gretel, although she looked different. Gretel's dress was torn and filthy, her face smudged with dirt and her hair coarse and untidy.  
"Gretel?" Rose spoke, trying to keep her voice calm. In truth, she was scared out of her mind.  
"Help…" repeated Gretel, her voice croaky. Immediately, Jiminy stepped forward, knelt down and tried to free Gretel from the chains.  
"We need a key," Jiminy murmured, noticing the lock on the chains. Rose's eyes scanned the shelves, looking for any sign or glint of a key. As her gaze explored the shelves, she noticed that the caged animals were staring at her silently. Eventually, her gaze fell upon a caged black cat. Around the cat's neck was a collar, and dangling from the collar was a key.  
"Found it," said Rose, walking over and undoing the latch on the cat's cage, before freeing the poor animal. The cat leaped out of the cage and onto the floor. Rose leaned down and grabbed the key, then walked over to Gretel and inserted it into the lock. With one twist of the key, the chains loosened around Gretel's feet and she squirmed free of them. As soon as Gretel was free, the first thing she did was run over to a glass enclosure that housed a rather large spider.  
"Gretel," Rose muttered frantically, "What's going on?"  
"Hansel and I got lost in the woods," Gretel removed the spider from its enclosure, "after we fled from Gothel Tower. We were with a few other children who also ran away. We were so hungry…so hungry…"  
"What happened?" asked Jiminy.  
"We found the cottage, but those flowers made us think it was made from sweets," explained Gretel, on the verge of tears, "We all thought the house was made from gingerbread and lollipops and candy. That was when the witch came out of the cottage and invited us all in. She said we could have as much dessert as we liked…but when we walked in, she locked the door and turned everyone into animals, one by one."  
She looked down at the spider in her hands, and sobbed.  
"It's okay," Jiminy comforted her, "We're going to be okay. We just need to get out of here."  
Rose looked at all the caged animals. They were, all of them, children. Captive in Achren's basement.  
"We have to free the others," said Rose.  
"We have to focus on getting free ourselves," replied Jiminy. Rose shook her head, and began opening all of the cages. Lizards, bats, rats, spiders, cats and rabbits all leapt from the shelves. The bats flew around Rose, Jiminy and Gretel and lifted them upwards, out of the basement. Back above ground in Achren's cottage, Rose and Jiminy watched as the animals all fled the basement and crawled throughout the cottage.  
"There must be a way to revert the spell she put on them," Rose pondered out loud. Suddenly, the front door opened and Achren walked in.  
"I'm back–" she stopped in her tracks when she saw all the animals surrounding Rose and Jiminy. Rose glared at Achren,  
"Recognize them?" asked Rose, eyes narrowed. Achren looked at Rose pleadingly,  
"You don't understand. I've been working on all these different potions so I can return to Prydain and reclaim my throne."  
"So you decided to test the potions on children?!" Jiminy growled with conviction. Achren shrugged,  
"They're not my children. Why should I have any love for them?"  
"You're twisted," Rose said in a disgusted tone.  
"Well…" Achren looked at her feet for a few seconds, before smiling, "…at least I'm not dead!"  
Then, she pulled out what looked like a wand at pointed it at Rose. However, at that moment, the animals all seemed to become savage. They all attacked Achren without warning. Achren staggered back as a cat pounced onto her face and dug its claws into her.  
"Get off me!" screeched Achren, and then she tripped over and smashed into the cauldron of rabbit stew before landing face-first into the crackling fire beneath it. As Achren's face pressed into the blazing coals, a bottle of green liquid rolled from her pocket and smashed on the floor, sending out a green wave of glowing light. Rose shielded her eyes, and as soon as the light faded, she removed her hands to see that, where there was once a plethora of animals, was now a crowd of children. Even Hansel was there, no longer a spider. Without further delay, Rose and Jiminy ran out of the cottage with all the children and kept running until the cottage was out of sight. As the children disappeared into the woods, Rose looked at Jiminy,  
"Let's make this a learning experience – never shall we ever go home with anyone we don't know."  
"Agreed," Jiminy nodded, catching his breath.

Meanwhile, back at the cottage, Achren rose from the flames, her face scarred and burned. She tried to look around, but her eyes had also been pressed into the embers, blinding her. Achren staggered around her cottage, falling over several times, until she lay on the floor and screamed so loud that all the windows and glass objects in the cottage shattered into pieces.


	10. Most Cunning Serpent

The funeral for old King Cole was the largest the realm had ever seen. Thousands upon thousands gathered to mourn the former King of Wonderland, dressed head to toe in black. Snow stood, surrounded by royal guards, wearing a black dress she had been given by one of the handmaidens. The sky was gray and bleak, and Snow stared at the coffin in front of her as it was lowered into the earth, her pale face stained with tears. After the coffin was out of sight, she gazed over to Marian, who was staring back at her and smiling broadly. Sickened, Snow looked away from her, and read the words on her father's headstone:  
 **OLD KING COLE,  
A MERRY OLD SOUL  
**After the burial, there was a grand feast to celebrate the life of King Cole. Snow, however, left immediately and went to her bedchambers, refusing to partake. She could not bear to be in her mother's presence any longer.  
"No," she scolded herself out loud, "The creature inside her isn't my mother."  
She needed help. Snow could not and would not be able to handle this by herself. Sending a handmaiden to send for her tutor, she waited upon his arrival. Finally, there was a knock on the door, and a guard allowed Snow's tutor to enter the bedchambers. His name was Raphus Cucullatus. Raphus had a face like a kind grandfather, with spectacles perched on a long beak-like nose. His white hair was tied in a small ponytail, and he – like everyone else that day – was dressed in a black outfit.  
"My lady," Raphus bowed his head, "I am deeply sorry for the loss of your father. He truly was one of the noblest Kings in the history of Wonderland."  
"Thank you," it took everything to stop herself from crying again, "That's exactly what I'd like to talk about; my father's death."  
Raphus saw the stony seriousness on Snow's face. For a moment, he had forgotten how Snow was wiser beyond her years. For a girl of fifteen, she had a Queen's heart.  
"Go on," he said, pulling up a chair and sitting across from Snow, who was sitting on her bed.  
"Shortly after my father was found with his heart ripped out," Snow murmured, "I was visited by my mother. I assumed she had come to console me, but…instead she taunted me."  
A look of a shock crossed Raphus's face,  
"Princess Snow, the Queen would never–"  
"I know she would never do it," interrupted Snow, "That's why I was so confused at first. I couldn't believe it. Then, she…well, it told me…the truth. She said that there was something inside her, controlling her…using her actions and words. There is a creature inside my mother going around and ripping hearts out. Apparently, it's called the Serpent…"  
Raphus's eyes widened considerably,  
"The…The Serpent? Are you sure?!"  
"Yes," nodded Snow, "Do you know of it?"  
Raphus took a deep breath, as if mustering up the courage to discuss such a terrible creature,  
"The Serpent is an ancient evil…a servant of Darkness…for as long as mankind has existed, the Serpent has been there, tempting and luring men and women towards sin. It is a wicked force, and dangerously persuasive. After taking a host, the Serpent seeks out those with the strongest hearts, and devours them."  
"This has happened before?" Snow gasped, "The Serpent has taken over someone's body before?"  
"Oh yes," answered Raphus, "Here, in Wonderland. A young girl named Alice fell victim to the Serpent's power, but nobody knew until it was too late. One day, Alice passed an old woman, who promptly turned around and shrieked 'SERPENT!' whilst pointing at Alice. We all thought she was mad…if only we knew…"  
"What happened to her? To Alice?" asked Snow.  
"Nobody knows for sure," Raphus sighed, "She vanished. The Serpent had turned her into a monster."  
"And now it's doing the same to my mother," Snow muttered, "Is there any way to defeat the Serpent? Or at least stop it from controlling her?"  
Raphus thought for a moment, then nodded slowly,  
"There is someone who might be able to help."

That afternoon, Snow was introduced to a priest of the Wonderland church, an elderly man by the name of William Lizard.  
"It's a pleasure to meet you, princess," Father William bowed down to her, "I can assure you that a soul as merry as your father is in a better place."  
"Thank you," Snow replied, "I assume Raphus has informed you of why you're here?"  
"He has," said Father William, "I possess the holy power to vanquish the demon within the Queen."  
"Good," said Snow, "There's no more time to waste, then."  
Snow, Raphus and Father William made their way to Queen Marian's bedchambers, which were heavily guarded by at least thirty armed soldiers.  
"I wish to see my mother," Snow commanded.  
"Princess, the Queen is not feeling her best…" started one of the guards.  
"That's why we're here," replied Snow, gesturing to Father William, "Now get out of my way immediately."  
The guards hesitated, but eventually opened the doors for the princess, the tutor and the priest. When they entered the bedchambers and the doors closed behind them, Snow gazed at her mother, who was lying on top of her bed in a red and black nightgown. Queen Marian was pale, dark rings around her bloodshot eyes. Marian, still lying down, turned her head and looked at them.  
"My sweet daughter…" Marian sounded nothing like herself, her voice was deep and raspy, "…and you've brought guests."  
"Do it, Father," Snow looked at Father William, who was himself looking quite frightened. Nonetheless, Father William approached Marian's bed and pulled out a small book containing the holy texts of the church.  
"We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects–"  
Marian sat up rigidly all of a sudden, and for a split second, Snow thought Marian's face changed into that of a snake. Father William, although disturbed, continued.  
"Most cunning Serpent," chanted Father William, "you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the church, torment–"  
Marian hissed with a forked snake's tongue, and Snow stepped back in horror,  
"Mother!"  
"Quiet," Raphus whispered, "The ritual cannot be broken or it will fail."  
Snow obliged, but watched worriedly as Father William went on with the cleansing ritual.  
"We beseech thee to deliver us by thy power from all the tyranny of the infernal spirits," he withdrew a bottle of what looked like water, "from their snares, their lies and their furious wickedness!"  
Uncorking the glass bottle, he splashed the water onto Marian like a whip. As soon as the water touched Marian's skin, she began writhing around on the bed.  
"Begone, inventor and master of all deceit!" yelled Father William, "Enemy of man's salvation–"  
Suddenly, with a wave of Marian's hand, an invisible force flung Father William towards her. Marian grabbed Father William's throat and snarled,  
"You are old, Father William…and weak!"  
With the strength of fifty men, Marian threw Father William out of the window. Raphus ran towards Marian, but she simply lifted her other hand, and another invisible force tossed Raphus across the room. He hit the wall and tumbled to the floor.  
"Stop!" screamed Snow, "Get out of my mother!"  
Marian looked at Snow, and roared demonically, so loud that the room began to shake and tremble. At that moment, the guards burst through the doors.  
"GET THEM OUT!" roared Marian, standing on her bed and pointing at Snow and Raphus, "GET! THEM! OUT!"


	11. Guillotine

For about three days, Snow was confined to her bedchambers, forbidden from leaving. Whenever she attempted to open the doors, she found that they were locked. Somehow, even the windows were locked, so there was no escape route there. For most of the time, Snow simply sat on her bed and stared down at the floor. On the third day, Snow got out some parchment and ink. There was no other option. She dipped her quill in the ink and wrote upon the piece of parchment:  
 **Whoever finds this,  
All is not well. I, Princess Snow of House White, am being held captive in my own bed-chambers. There is a great evil inside my mother, Queen Marian, controlling her and forcing her to rip out hearts and eat them.  
Please help. Please.  
**Snow grabbed the parchment and folded it into the shape of a bird like Raphus had taught her in one of their lessons – she hoped he was alright. She approached the window, then stretched the sleeve of her top over her hand, made a fist and punched a hole in the glass. The shattering was heard from outside, and Snow heard guards at her door,  
"Are you alright, princess?"  
Snow did not answer, and stuck her hand out the window. Fortunately, it was rather windy. Her parchment pigeon may very well glide to another kingdom. Snow took a deep breath, then – parchment pigeon in hand – slowly eased her arm through the hole in the window. When there was enough room for her to throw the parchment, she let go and the wind carried the parchment away. Suddenly, the doors burst open and Snow quickly forced her arm back through the hole, only for the edges to scrape along her arm and open wounds that trickled blood. Snow gasped aloud in pain and clutched her arm. One of the guards saw Snow's arm and grimaced,  
"Princess! What are you doing?"  
"Seeking freedom," Snow hissed, "Look what you've all made me do. I've been trapped here for days!"  
"Under the Queen's orders, princess," said another guard in a somewhat apologetic tone.  
"The Queen? So my mother's feeling better?"  
The guards exchanged looks for a brief moment, before one of them spoke up again,  
"Yes. Much better."  
"She's sent for you on this day," another guard murmured, "You are to be escorted to the royal gardens."  
The royal gardens? Snow rushed over to the window and looked out of it, having not noticed all the noblemen and women gathered in the gardens, surrounding some sort of wooden contraption that towered over them all. Even her mother was there, wearing a red and black dress with a white collar.  
"What's going on?" asked Snow, gazing down at the large wooden structure. She hadn't seen anything like it before in her life.  
"You are to be escorted to the royal gardens," the guard repeated dutifully.  
"Very well," Snow glanced at her torn arm, "I, at least, ought to get my arm tended to before it gets infected."  
The guard nodded, and Snow was escorted out of the bedchambers over to where the royal physician would be.

After her arm was wrapped in bandages, Snow was escorted into the royal gardens. The sea of nobility parted as she made her way through the crowd, until Snow was standing in front of the wooden apparatus. It was then that she noticed that, at the top of the wooden frame was some sort of metal strip; a blade. Something twisted in Snow's stomach and she felt slightly queasy. The murmurs of the crowd were quickly quelled when Queen Marian spoke,  
"SILENCE!"  
Everybody obeyed. Snow glared at her mother, who continued,  
"Bring him," Marian commanded, and several guards vanished back into the palace for a while, before emerging. Dragging with them was a person with a sack over their head, masking their identity. Snow watched wearily as the person was escorted to the wooden device.  
"Standing before you, is a murderer," Marian declared, "With free access to the palace, he betrayed his kingdom and his country by murdering Sir Leo, King Cole, and Father William. He murdered them, before ripping out their hearts and eating them like an animal."  
A series of gasps escaped the crowd behind Snow, and she rolled her eyes. Whoever this man was, he wasn't the murderer. She wanted to say something, to protest, but she was genuinely too frightened to do anything at this moment. With a nod of Marian's head, the guards pulled the sack from the alleged murderer's head, to reveal the face of Raphus Cucullatus. Snow's eyes widened.  
"No," she whispered, stunned.  
"Recently, he tried to kill me and my daughter," Marian gestured to Snow, "He was Snow's personal tutor, and had access to the palace. Nobody suspected him until he was caught in the act…and now he will pay for the murder of my dear and beloved husband."  
Snow began shaking her head, still stunned with fear. Marian was silent for a moment, before turning to her guards,  
"Off with his head!"  
"No!" cried Snow, suddenly struggling, "No!"  
The guards restrained her, and Marian sighed,  
"As you can all see, Snow trusted him and cannot deal with this sad truth. This man has betrayed her…betrayed us all!"  
"Off with his head!" the crowd began chanting.  
Raphus's head was forced inside the wooden frame, while the blade dangled above his nape. The executioner, who was holding a rope that held the blade in place, suddenly let go of the rope…and Snow's only friend lost his head.


End file.
